Executive To Retire At The Hartford

Robert Kerzner, head of The Hartford's individual life business, will retire May 1 after 30 years in the operation, which has grown from a small player to a driving force in the industry.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Thursday it has started a search inside and outside the company for a successor to Kerzner, who has been executive vice president and director of the individual life division since 2001.

Kerzner's division is the nation's largest seller of variable universal life insurance, in which the customer directs the investment of premiums in various funds. The value of the policy depends on the performance of the investments.

The division, which has about 1,500 employees, also handles universal life, whole life and term insurance. Annuities aren't part of the unit.

Kerzner is also president of Woodbury Financial Services, a broker-dealer that was part of The Hartford's 2001 acquisition of Fortis's individual life, annuity and mutual funds business.

Kerzner, 51, said in an interview Thursday he has been happy at The Hartford but wants a change.

``I really wanted to leave when I thought the business was in good shape and really had a lot of momentum, and to leave on a high,'' he said. ``I think too many executives today are leaving for the wrong reasons.''

Kerzner hasn't lined up his next job yet but says his top preference would be a role as an advocate for the life industry. He says he's also considering doing something similar to his current position, or having a consulting business.

The Hartford's individual life sales were only $2.7 million in 1974, the year Kerzner joined the company. In 1994, after sales had dipped in 1993, he was moved into the home office as vice president and director of individual life sales to turn things around. The 1994 sales were $89 million, with earnings of $25 million, he said.

Sales reached a peak of $228 million in 2001, Kerzner said. The company's 2003 results haven't been released yet.